2015: Deputy governors and succession crisis

The position of deputy governor is perceived as a stepping stone to the governorship. But, since 1999, only a deputy governor has succeeded his boss. Ahead of the next year’s general elections, Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the obstacles against the deputy governors itching to become governors.

It is a hallowed position. It confers honour and prestige on the occupant. It is a stepping stone to the governorship. But, the position of a deputy governor is also perceived as a burden and frustration under the presidential system. To many observers, the office is adorned with elusive influence, judging by the power relations between deputy governors and their power-loaded bosses.

In this dispensation, only Alhaji Mahmud Shinkafi of Zamfara State, has succeeded his boss, former Governor Yerima Sani. Unlike other 35 governors, who were in the saddle between 1999 and 2007, Sani , now a senator, believed that the number two position was a training ground for Shinkafi, who he had groomed for the exalted office.

Next year, governorship elections will hold in 31 states. In 25 states, governors will complete their second term. Curiously, out of the 25 states, only in two states -Bauchi and Taraba – are deputy governors aspiring to succeed their bosses. In Taraba, the acting governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, is scheming to succeed his ailing boss, Alhaji Dambaba Suntai. In Bauchi, the deputy governor wants to succeed Alhaji Isa Yuguda. There is no evidence to suggest that their bosses will endorse them for the governorship. In some states, deputy governors are embracing reality by aspiring to the National Assembly. In others, they are on their way to political retirement.

Threats to ambition

A political scientist, Boniface Ayodele, observed that deputy governors merely exist and function based on the whims and caprices of their principals with whom they share joint tickets during the election. He explained why their governorship ambition has always hit the rock. “One of the issues and factors that tend to stall the desire of deputy governors to serve as governors is zoning. If the deputy governor comes from outside the zoning preference, he will be by-passed,” he said.

Ayodele, who teaches at the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, also pointed out that governors and their deputies are never best of friends, adding that their relationship is often characterised by suspicion, hate and jealousy. “The deputy governors are always imposed on the governors by the party structure. They may belong to different caucuses within the ruling party. In most cases, the governors are not permitted to choose their running mates. Deputy governors are selected for ethnic or zonal balancing. The competence of the deputy governor may also be an issue,” he added.

The university don also alluded to the mood of the party as a factor in succession. He said governors can influence the party to abort the deputy governor’s succession dream, if the governor perceives him or her to be disloyal and treacherous. “A governor will not want to hand over to a person who will probe him or expose his misdeeds in office,” he stressed.

A historian, Caleb Ayegbusi, observed that many governors had deliberately chosen deputy governors who lacked political clout so that they would not nurse the plan to succeed them. “In Delta State, the eminent professor of law is the deputy governor. But, he is an old man. He is a decent person and he will not make any controversial move when the race to succeed Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan starts. Even, in Ondo State, Governor Mimiko carefully selected an old man, Chief Ali Olanusi, as his deputy. He has no ambition and he will not be a thorn in the flesh of the governor,” he said.

Ayegbusi contented that, although many politicians lobby to become deputy governors, the position has a limited attraction.

It is an understatement. The deputy governor is the nominal second-in-command to the governor. Whenever the governor is not around; either he is on sick bed or annual leave; the deputy governor is permitted by the 1999 Constitution to stand for him. But there ends his power. Unlike commissioners and special advisers, he is not assigned any constitutional roles. Therefore, analysts deride the portfolio as a spare tyre. The constraints are overwhelming. The position only becomes an attractive portfolio in a rare period of emergency when the governor is impeached or dies in office. When this happens, the deputy governor instantly becomes the governor.

Constitution as albatross

Under the 1999 Constitution, deputy governors are marginalised. Whenever they muster the strength to assert themselves, they are shoved aside by the impeachment instigated by the governor. “Many deputy governors are idle and merely warm the seats in the executive chambers,” said rights activist Lanre Suraj. “Usually, there is friction between the chief executive and his deputy, unless the governor prefers him for the role,” he added.

Since the Second Republic, governors and their deputies have not maintained cordial relations, despite being active politicians and political leaders in their respective constituencies. In the old Oyo State, the friction got to a crescendo when the governor, the late Chief Bola Ige, had to withdraw the roles assigned to his deputy, the late Chief Sunday Afolabi. The crisis of confidence escalated when the deputy governor’s allowances were withheld by his boss.

Also, the frosty relation between governors and their deputies was worse in Ondo and Bendel states. In Ondo State, the deputy governor, the late Chief Akin Omoboriowo, challenged his boss, the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin, to a duel. When Ajasin later withdrew the powers, the vibrant deputy governor was left in the cold. A maverick, he rallied many key leaders and launched a virulent attack on the administration under which he served as the number two citizen. It was worse in Bendel State. Former Governor Ambrose Ali and his deputy, Obande, polarised the ruling Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and the state.

In the aborted Third Republic, there were signs that many deputy governors wanted to rub shoulders with their governors. The storm was gathering, but the deputy governors could not hatch their rebellion before legitimate authorities were displaced by the military.

Between 1999 and 2007, the rivalries between some governors and their deputies underscored the succession battle. In the Southwest, following protracted personality clashes, Afenifere, the Yoruba pan-Yoruba socio-political group, advised two deputy governors-Iyiola Omisore of Osun State and Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele of Lagos State-to resign from government. It was evident that the two governors-Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Bola Tinubu-would not allow their troublesome deputies to succeed them.

Endangered specie

Ambitious deputy governors are often dropped before the next election. In Abia State, Eyinnaya Abaribe was sacked as the deputy governor by former Governor Orji Kalu. In Bayelsa State, former Governor Timpreye Sylva orchestrated the impeachment of his deputy, Hon. Perebowei Ebebi. Umar, the deputy governor of Taraba State, had to fight to become the Acting Governor, following the hospitalisation of his boss, who was involved in a plane crash.

In Akwa Ibom, the deputy governor, Isima Ekere, was kicked out for showing interest in governorship, which will become vacant next year when Governor Godswill Akpabio completes his second term.

In Sokoto State, former Govrnor Attahiru Bafarawa and his deputy, Alhaji Ibrahim Wamakko, had to go their separate ways in 2007. Wamakko wanted to succeed Bafarawa. But, the former governor objected. To achieve his motive, Wamakko had to defect from the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

There are indications that many deputy governors actually suffer in silence. Many big shots have avoided being nominated as governorship running mates, although the traumatized position underrated as second fiddle also has prospects.

Many constitutional lawyers contend that Section 130 of the 1999 Constitution is to blame. It created the positions of deputy governor and vice president as an amoeba, a constitutional parasite without a meaningful shape and deep political root. Perhaps, as noted by a commentator, Eric Teniola, the only reason for keeping the office of the Vice President and deputy governor is that they provide an automatic solution to the problem of succession.

Like governor, like Vice President

Former Secretary to Western State Government, the late Chief Augustine Adebayo, offered an insight into the frosty governor/deputy governor relations. In his book titled: ‘Power in politics’, he said the deputy governor, who is “constitutionally idle”, has no security vote. He also pointed out that, African leaders, by nature, have a pathological hatred for the idea of successor. Thus, Adebayo reasoned that the office of a successor or heir-apparent to the throne is institutionalized into the system, it is a clear invitation to political disaster.

Adebayo drew a similarity between the fate of the deputy governor and the Vice President. He emphasised that the main function of the Vice President is to wait in the wings to be called upon to take over the duties of the Chief Executive. According to analysts, this is can lead to anxiety.

In 2007, the Vice President Atiku Abubakar showed a keen interest in the Presidency. Between 1999 and 2003, he was perceived as the President in waiting. However, in 2007, his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo had a new succession plan. Irked by the rejection of his candidature, he left the PDP for the Action Congress (AC).

In developed countries, deputy governors and vice presidents face the same predicament. Former United States President Frankline Roosevelt described the position of the vice president as “an utterly anomalous office, one which I think ought to be abolished”.

However, due to the prevailing strong political culture, Americans acknowledge the prospects of the office. Succession, to them, is not a remote possibility. In the United States, nine Presidents have failed to complete their terms of office and their deputies had to assume office as Presidents. Eight of them died in office; four of them were assassinated. One was forced to resign. At least, when two Presidents, Dwight Eisenhower and Woodrow Wilson, took ill, their vice presidents acted as Presidents. Thus, political scientists and experts in public administration have contend that the office of Vice-President is a training ground for the ultimate office of the President. Former Vice Presidents Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford became Presidents when tragedy befell the captains of the ship.

In United States, Vice-President is not totally idle all the time. He is saddled with certain assignments to keep him busy. He is the President of the Senate. But, “Senator Vice President” is a ceremonial head. He has no vote on the floor, unless there is a tie or members are equally divided. Many agree that, without this cosmetic function, the Vice-President of the most powerful country in the world will be without employment.

This frustration was expressed by Arthur Schlesinger in his book’ The Imperial Presidency’ where he quoted Tom Marshall as saying: “The Vice President is like a man in catalectic state; he cannot speak, he cannot move, he suffers no pain, and yet, he is perfectly conscious of everything on about him’.

Former President Lyndon Johnson’s deputy, Mr Hubert Humphrey, reflected on the plight of a deputy trapped the so-called exalted office devoid of power. “It is like being naked in the middle of a blizzard with no one to even offer you a match to keep you warm. You are trapped, vulnerable, alone and it does not matter who happens to be President”, he said.

American founding fathers had visualized these predicaments from the beginning. The first US Vice President , John Adams, had pointed out that constitutional constraints that may make any Vice-President uncomfortable. “My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office contrived in the imagination of man”. But Adams was also ambivalent because he also perceived the lesser position as a stepping stone to the topmost ladder. He said, consolingly, that ‘I am Vice-President; in this, I am nothing, but, I may be everything’. He later occupied the throne he gazed at from a close range.

Mistrust and suspicion

Adebayo observed that deputy governors often rebel against governors because they monopolise the “limitless goldmines”, thereby giving deputy governors no opportunity to be heard or seen. He said that deputies are aggrieved because they lack access to state resources. “There were some states where the governors and their deputies were not on speaking terms’, noted Adebayo, who canvassed the abolition of the position of deputy governor, based on his Second Republic experience.

In this Fourth Republic, this trend has persisted. At the height of former Governor Chris Ngige’s tribulation in Anambra State, his deputy was removed. Ngige said that he was disloyal. In Oyo State, the former deputy governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala turned his back against his boss, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, in the days of tribulation. In fact, Alao-Akala assumed the reins in error. When Ladoja was reinstated by the court after 11 months, Alao-Akala hurriedly embarked on leave.

In Enugu State, where Chimaroke Nnamani once called the shots, the deputy was a shadow aide. Conscious of his limitation, he accepted his fate and refused to flex muscles with his political superior.

Adebayo said that, under the constitution, the governor is not compelled to assign functions to his deputy. In fact, the deputy governor, like the Vice President, cannot appoint his personal staff. All the aides of the deputy governors are appointees of the governor. Their loyalty also goes to the governor, and not the deputy governor. This, scenario, Adebayo submitted, ran contrary to the mindset of an African in power who likes to enjoy publicity and pomp.

Another bone of contention between the governor and deputy governor is political patronage. How the pecks of office are shared often create problem. When the deputy governor is not carried along, he is restless. In the Third Republic, the Deputy Governors Forum was set up to fight the marginalisation. Former deputy governors, including the late Segun Agagu (Ondo State), Adewale Haastrup (Osun), Peter Odili (Rivers), and Aminatu Ojikutu (Lagos) clamoured for roles in the constitution. Today, any deputy governor who nurses a similar idea may face impeachment charges.

The dire consequences

Opinion is divided on whether the office of the deputy governor should be retained or dropped. Those who support the retention of the office believe that the governor needs a helper in the arduous task of state administration. Others argue that its retention puts the occupant of the obscure position in solitary confinement. Adebayo said that the functions can be transferred to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, who is constitutionally empowered to perform the functions of the chief executive in certain circumstances in which both governor and deputy governor cannot perform.